The passing of Kim Thompson last summer made me think long and hard about his accomplishments and those of his generation of comics industry people and comics-makers. It's an extraordinary thing they've done, taking a neglected, despised, hyper-commercial art form and helping to turn it into a platform for some of the most affecting, idiosyncratic expressions of art available on the planet.

My hope is that we continue to strive for great art and a for a significant, honorable place for its makers, that we let go of ego in terms of what we think we need out of this industry, art form and its attendant arts communities and allow ourselves to be a part of greater, collective accomplishment. I think there is so much work yet to be done in institutionalizing the startling leaps made over the last 35 years, and improving on them, that it would take a dozen lifetimes to see to it all, and that waiting around for the applause we think we deserve gets us no closer to any of it. I think there are people that are going to need help, and in return they can provide us an example to stamp out before others take its form. I don't think we're bound by legal permission or economic compulsion. I don't think grinding exploitation is any more inevitable than great comics art.

I think we get to shape the next 50 years, and that in 2013 we can see its outline every bit as much as we may feel its shadow. What an opportunity.